Last day of the Year, Mom update and other notes

Good afternoon everyone

Yesterday was a bit rough for me as a lot things just hit me at the wrong moment. Mom's still in the hospital at the time I'm writing this, but I do know they took her to get her radiation therapy, and they have changed the food she's eating to be softer since she's having trouble swallowing. If anyone would be kind to donate to her gofundme to help cover these medical expenses, you can do so at: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Did reach out to talk to the FN Dante Savage and had a nice short conversation, was nice to hear a different voice in the mix of all the chaos and insanity I'm experiencing.

As for last night's stream, we featured the back half of the Persona 4 cast story in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and came to a realization that the entire plot for P4AU uses elements that ended up being used for Persona 5, witch a 'god' being embodiment of desires, a crossover of the 'TV World' and the 'Real World', and with Sho basically having the same back story as Akechi! Still, P4AU does in some regard give closure to the cast of Persona 4 in its epilogue.

We also did an arcade run as Teddie, and I thought I didn't like using him in vanilla Persona 4 Arena, but the changes and refinements in P4AU meant the A.I. on Normal meant using Teddie was a lot harder than it needed to be. We ended up clearing out a few achievements 

For the raid, we dropped in on MissJackieLin who was playing Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight over at twitch.tv/missjackielin. Always nice to drop in on other streamers who are playing games within the same franchise.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Trophies

• The P-1 CLIMAX is over!: You completed Story Mode from the P4 perspective.
• Ultimate Suplex Hold: You used the S Hold System 10 times in Arcade Mode.
• Arcade Master: You completed Arcade Mode with three characters.

Stream Clip Links

• No Two Ways About It...
• There we go! 
• When You Hit Teddy's Super... Remember to Salute!
  

Finished the Mass Effect short story commission and started on the next commission request for a WWE not-so-short story, but I also got in a request for another Mass Effect short story. So I'll probably go back and forth writing both, since one will take me less than than the other.

Went through some stuff to throw out and found a couple of things worth keeping, including the framed inserts that celebrated the 1995 Hall of Fame inductions of Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt that were in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Uppercut Combo #1, Advanced Combo #1 and Beginner Combo #2 for 34 minutes.

Stepped on the scale and I weighed in at 240 pounds! Okay maybe a two pound margin of error, so possible 242 lbs.

What do you call a can opener that doesn't work? A can't opener.

Song of the Day: I Can’t Wait by Nu Shoaz.

For tonight's New Year Eve stream, we'll do the usual bouncing from game to game, opening with DKO Divine Knockout and then going from there.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

 

 

 

Mom Staying in the Hospital, and What Did We Do In Final Fantasy XIV

Good morning everyone,

First, update on my mom, she spent another night at the hospital, and after speaking with her this morning, turns out the doctors are saying she should stay, a large part being because of what I pointed out the other day in regards to Uber & Lyft not having proper vehicles to use for contracted hospital transport to and from people's homes. She is eating, and had a physical therapist see her, and I believe she will still get her scheduled radiation therapy treatments. We are raising money to cover these medical expenses, for more details, visit: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

In terms of how I'm handling things... its... worrisome on so many levels, but I kept getting the impression people are just waiting for me to snap. I know my father doesn't want to hear me vent, he made that particularly clear a few days ago. I know internalizing it is 'bad', but one has to keep up a strong front right? I don't really have a choice, I either step up or crash and burn. Too bad everything I've been trying to do has been a utter failure.

Sorry...

As for last night's stream, we played Final Fantasy XIV, and I was happily surprised to find the next two installments of the Endwalker Hildibrand story arc involving aliens, bunnies and a tabloid reporter. We also finally accessed the Moogle Tribe Quests, and got Carpentry up to level 51. Did a couple of raids, and basically got my face stomped in... I really hate the NieR inspired raids... I truly do Still we had fun.

For the raid we dropped in on PrincessPashley as they were playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt over on twitch.tv/PrincessPashley!  The Witcher 3 is a game that is on my list of things to eventually play.

Stream Clip Links

• Let it be a dance sequence!
• Dancing Bunnies On The Moon 
• I think he went down easily
  

Got only a little bit of writing done on the Mass Effect short story commission, as I was distracted with checking in on mom, so I didn't feel like writing too much during the afternoon. I hope to finish it today, then get started on the next commission short story which is based on WWE.

Recorded a new Tier List making video for my YouTube channel, this time focused on 80s movies. It ended up being an hour long based on trying to justify where I placed each film. Doing it did bring back to my mind the disappointment that was Kingdom Hearts III in regards to its World selection, since I did give The Great Mouse Detective and The Black Cauldron fairly high ranks.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hook Combo #1, Weaving Combo #2 and Waist Shape Focus Combo for 28 minutes.

I still remember the last thing my grandfather said before kicking the bucket: "Hey, you want to see how far I can kick this bucket?"

Song of the Day:  Centuries by Fall Out Boy.

For tonight's stream, the plan is to play Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, continuing the story mode from the Persona 4 cast perspective with maybe an arcade run or two as well.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Mom stayed over night at the hospital

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday at 11:30 AM my mom went off for her 2nd Radiation Therapy session... but she ended in the Emergency Room at 4 PM with some pains on her right side. According to the nurse in the ER I spoke too, a lot of of tests results looked fine, so it might be a bad reaction to the Radiation, or she might of badly pulled a muscle. By 11:30 PM, she was finally being put into a room to get some rest. Spoke with her first thing this morning, and apparently it's more of an issue of pain management. We are trying to raise money to cover all her medical expenses, if anyone can help, please donate to her GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Now I did do a stream last night while keeping tabs on my mom, in fact she called in during the stream and for the first time she was able to thank those in the chat for their support. It was a really cool moment.

In terms of what we played, we opened up with Fall Guys, selecting both solo and squad shows... we didn't make a single appearance in the Final Rounds, but we did knock out all of the dailies. There were a few silly moments for sure.

We did end up Playing Fallout 76, mostly to just do the daily challenges, so it was roaming around doing finding things and doing events. Ended up teamed with a random player and followed them around for a good amount of time. Also picked up one achievement as a result.

Did experiment with Green Screen Gifs, introducing the random John Travolta appearing when someone redeems it of it I just want to be silly.

For the raid, we sent everyone over to Mystery Science Theater 3000 at twitch.tv/mst3k! Because if I no one else to raid, dropping in on the Satellite of Love is a great idea

Fallout 76 Achievements

•  Field Medic: Revive 20 Fallen Players

Stream Clip Links

• The Focus To Come In First
• I Just Came In First... Again! 
• Did Homeboy Boop Me Out The Way?!
• Of course... 
• Bad Monkey!!!
• Achievement: Field Medic! 
  

Finished the WWE Short Story commission yesterday afternoon, and the next commission request is for a continuation of the Mass Effect series of short stories this time featuring Aria T'Loak.  Got a lot of it written last night before I feel asleep.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured  Double Combo #2, Straight Combo #1 and Triple Combo #1 for 31 minutes

What do you call a dog with no legs? You can call him whatever you want, he's still not coming.

Song of the Day: Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi

For tonight's stream, we shall continue our side quest grind in Final Fantasy XIV, with maybe a raid or two tossed in to break things up!

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Two More Gyms and One More Titan Conquered

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Pokemon Violet was certainly more the 'how the hell do I get to where I need to go' aspect, but following a plan of doing things in a set order does mean I'm pretty much over powered in a number of different aspects. Meowscarada can basically one shot most things at level 56, since I have her with two dark type moves, one grass type and one fairy type moves. I'm certainly leaning into doing the rest of this game as I did Pokemon Shield and just over level my core team to brute force my way through the elite four. I mean it worked in Shield & Let's Go Eevee... and technically did in Shining Pearl.

We did conquer two Gyms, the ones for Ghost type, which happened to be the one 'duos' style of battling area I've seen in game, plus the Psychic gym. Again Meowscarada basically did all the heavy lifting in both areas. Figuring out how to 'catch up' with Iron Treads, the Quaking Earth Titan, took way too long for me to realize, but we made short work of him.

Noat this point, I have One Gym left, two Team Star Bases and one more Titan to conquer before starting the string of end game battles. But also discovered there are Shrines where if certain things are removed Legendary 'ruin' Pokemon may be freed to possible battle and / or captured. I doubt I'll go that far as most sites are calling the pursuit of the Shrines to be 'post-credits' content.

For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbz as they were playing Prey over at twitch.tv/powerthumbz!

Stream Clip Links

• Final Hit In The Ghost Gym
• Flower Trick For The Win... Again 
• Victory In The Psychic Gym
• Defeating Iron Treads, the Quaking Earth Titan 
  

Mom first day of Radiation Therapy went well from what she told me, the biggest issues yesterday being with the prearranged Uber and Lyft rides which clearly are not taking into account how quickly she can move. Most of her therapy sessions are in the afternoons, which gives plenty of time to get her ready... but I'm worried about the ones that are schedules for mornings. If anyone would be kind to donate to her GoFundMe, it would be greatly appreciated: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Started writing the latest WWE commission story request, may end up going with the promo set up route for it, since it's easy to write without me having to track down actual TV segments. Did got a large portion written after the stream.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2  daily workout featured Weaving Combo #1, Body Hook Combo and Beginner Combo #1 for 28 minutes.

What did the clock do when it was hungry? It went back four seconds.

Song of the Day: Big Fun 2017 by Inner City

For tonight's stream, Iceman made me aware that he may not be able to join us, so we may still only with Fall Guys or pair it with Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed or MultiVersus if I decied no t to play Fallout 76. Regardless Fall Guys will be featured to start things off!

So on that note we'll see you later over at twitch.tv/fredcasden!

 https://gofund.me/6adf8354

The futher you get into Pokemon Violet, the longer it takes to get places!

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Pokemon Violet saw my first objective being trying to get to the next Team Star base which featured Atticus his wave of Poison Pokemon. The raid and battle was no problem, but the open world aspect of Pokemon Violet certainly meant it took awhile to get from point A to point B. Still, the big thing with it was the revelation that Team Star were victims of how bad the Academy handled issues of bullying.  

In terms of the Gym Battles, I went after the Normal Gym next, and the Gym Test being basically beating other trainers for their clues was a lot more straight forward than the obvious 'do someone's job for them' approach the previous gyms did. It was really not much of a challenge... but then again I have my team of Pokemon in the high-40s so at the very least I could brute force my way though most battles.

We ended the night with me trying to figure my way to get to the Ghost Gym, and this  is where the title of today's blog comes in, as I found myself in the ice mountain areas, which feels huge. I kind of feel I was lucky to find a Poke'Center. Yes I know, Picnicking is almost as good as visiting a Poke'Center, but since I'll be featuring Pokemon Violet tonight... I wanted to be in a good spot.

Also the surprise trade has resulted in some wonderful one sided trades in my favor, such as trading a Hoppip and getting an Espeon (an evolved form of Eevee) in return!

For last night's raid we dropped in on AnnieTalksShow as they were playing Overwatch 2 over at twitch.tv/annietalksshow!

Stream Clip Links

• The Fall of Team Navi
• Conquering The Normal Gym! 
• Meowscarada Brings It Down!
  

Today my mom goes for her first radiation therapy session, and she is a little nervous about it. Everyone has been telling it it'll be fine, and the doctors know what they are doing... but it is a little scary considering everything. Fingers crossed everything goes well.  We are raising funds to help cover the medical expenses, for my information please visit my mom's GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Finished writing the Callisto Protocol commission request, and I think it turned out okay, but got another commission request for a WWE short story to be based around The OC vs The Judgement Day feud.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hook Combo #2, Advanced Combo #2 and Left-Right Step Combo for 31 minutes.

How do you find Will Smith in the snow? Just follow the fresh prints!

Song of the Day: I Was Made For Lovin’ You by KISS

As mentioned earlier, we shall continue Pokemon Violet this evening as a way to get back into a groove of featuring a main game on Mondays and Tuesdays. Our initial objective is to make it to the Ghost Gym!

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Yesterday was a good day

Good afternoon everyone,

Yesterday we had quite a lot of family come by to visit for Christmas, and it was awesome. In one big way it certainly brought a smile to my mom's face with everyone being there, in another it was the first time my cousins got to my brother's kids, and they hit it off famously, which was awesome to see. It really was an incredibly day.

Of course the topic of what's going on with mom came up, with her starting her radiation treatments on Tuesday, so we have that to contend with in the coming days. I think we've prepared at much as possible to make sure she's comfortable, and I'm hoping the treatments will help provide some pain relief for her. If anyone would like to donate to her gofundme in her fight against cancer, you can do so at: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Last night's stream of Overwatch 2 was... problematic, as my upload speed and latency were all over the place from the time I started too about about 9:30 PM ish. These were similar to what happened on Friday evening, when everything went to crap on my Birthday stream. I basically kept the stream going and extended it till about 1:15 AM, so we still ended up with 3 Hours and 30 minutes of footage for the YouTube Archive. I did DM Xfinity Support and they did admit there some signal concern, and I know for a fact it has nothing to do with the modem or cables, it has to do with their own infrastructure that serves the area.

Anyway, we we got in plenty of matches as Lucio, Junker Queen, Junkrat, Torbjourn and other characters, with one Play of the Game added to the month as Junker Queen. We completed the Season 2 Battle Pass, so now it's just progression to see if we can get all the prestige titles for the season. Big thank you to BangBangBang for being apart of a lot of the matches.

For the raid, we sent all the viewers over to x9abenonymous9x who was playing Resident Evil: The Director's Cut over at twitch.tv/x9abenonymous9x!

Stream Clip Links

• Actually doing something as Echo
• No I'm not 
• That answer that question 
  

Got a good portion of the Callisto Protocol short story commission written yesterday before family came by. I'll probably finish it this afternoon or after the stream.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Double Combo #1, Body Straight Combo and Body Uppercut Combo for 28 minutes.

What do you call HIJKLMNO? H20!

Song of the Day: Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith

For tonight's stream, the plan is to continue Pokemon Violet. I actually forgot where I left off at, so we'll see what direction I want to head in.

So on that note we'll see you later over at twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone,

Last night's stream of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax didn't have any problems at all, which was great because we dived into the story mode, starting with the recap of Persona 4 Arena. I really enjoyed how the story mode for P4AU switches from character to character to see how the story flows as one narrative instead of replaying the story from different points of view for the entire cast. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed P4A's story mode and the hilarious moments it had, but going from the very beginning of events was a bit tedious. We also did an arcade run with Yukiko, and picked up a couple of trophies.

Now Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will be back on it's designated night of Friday this week, as the variety night will be on New Year's Eve. Which means Overwatch 2 will be the first game we stream in 2023.

Big thank you to Kalenal for the raid following their stream featuring Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal! 

For my own raid, we dropped in on TracyDoll during their stream of Friday the 13th THe Game over at twitch.tv/tracydoll! 

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Trophies

• The P-1 CLIMAX Begins!: You started an episode in Story Mode.
• Good Job!: You achieved a Perfect victory in Arcade or Network Mode!
• Nice Burst!: Failed a Reversal Burst in Arcade or Network Mode.
  

 Stream Clip Links

• Now Is Not The Time...
• Rise's Persona Has Evolved! 
• Dear Cherry Blossoms
  

The inclement weather delayed the start of my mom's radiation therapy on Friday, and was pushed back to Tuesday. We are raising money for her in her fight against cancer, you can donate via her gofundme at: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Finished the 6th chapter of the Mass Effect series of short story commission yesterday, and those are have been a blast to write, looking forward to when the request for a 7th one comes in. In the mean time, I now have a commission request to write a story based on The Callisto Protocol, which I know nothing about... but I think I can scrape something together if I keep some details vague enough.

While we have finished 60 games this year during my Twitch broadcasts, the total of different games played was 127. This is due to the fact of having quite a more reoccurring games in comparison to last year.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Uppercut Combo #2, Front-Back Step Combo and Defensive Combo #1 for 28 minutes.We also unlocked the last two EX Achievements!

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise EX Achievements

• Martina's Champion: Train with Martina for over 50 hours
• King EX Fighter: Acquire All EX Achievements
  

It's the start of a new week which means it's time to recap last week's featured games which included Overwatch 2, Pokemon Violet, ABZU, Smite, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, SoulCalibur II HD Online, Fall Guys, Fallout 76, Final Fantasy XIV, DKO Divine Knockout, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, APBA Baseball for Windows, & Persona 4 Arena Ultimax!

What did the lawyer wear to court? A lawsuit!

Song of the Day: Last Christmas by Wham!

For tonight's stream, Overwatch 2 is planned, start of the stream might be delayed slightly because some family is coming to visit during the afternoon.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Well My Birthday started good.. then the winds screwed everything up

 Good afternoon everyone,

Well my 40th Birthday yesterday was a real mixed bag in so many ways. For one my mom's first radiation treatment was cancelled due to the inclement weather. So that's been pushed back to Tuesday. If you would like to donate to help with some of the medical expenses, you can do so at https://gofund.me/6adf8354. In fact we had one donation during yesterday's stream that pushed the total raised so far past the $1,000 mark. Thank you very much!

As for the stream, we started at 1:30 PM, and it's a good thing we did, We started with DKO Divine Knockout, getting several wins as Athena over the course of the first two hours, then after a break to check up on my mom, we played Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed, and was getting into a good groove until 4:55 PM when the weather started causing havoc, as I experienced a noticeable inability to keep a steady upstream connection. .

We switch the stream over to Just Chatting, doing a couple of games of APBA Baseball, made a Mass Effect squad member tier list, but at 7 PM I ran out of things to do under a Just Chatting format, and with the constant stream resets. Bandwidth tests using TwitchTest showed no 0 quality, which only occurs when there was an major issue. I called Xfinity, and was was told that numerous people were starting to call in reporting the same issue.

So needless to say my Birthday ended up being a real downer. At the very least, the Twitch VOD version of the first 3+ hours is in the archives.

I do want to thank those who kicked in 600 bits during the stream and to scotchboxvr for the raid, following their stream of Evil West over at twitch.tv/scotchboxvr

Getting back what we managed to do in terms of games, we did get a couple of achievements.

Divine Knockout Achievements

• Traveler’s Tall Tale: Achieved 'Traveler’s Tall Tale'
• KO Collection Gold: Achieved 'KO Collection Gold'

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Achievements

• Right back at ya: Break a tether and down the buster who tethered you within 10 seconds

Stream Clip Links

• Triple Knockout... 3 for 1!
• Just being a Teddy Bear 
• The Eagle Has Landed?
  

For the raid, we dropped in over on the official twitch channel for Mystery Science Theater 3000 over at https://www.twitch.tv/mst3k

Because my birthday stream was cut short i went and did some writing on the sixth chapter of the Mass Effect series of short story commission requests.

Also made some more progress on the Overwatch season 2 battle pass, though my latency was all over the pace until things settled down around 12:30 AM. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Defensive Combo #2, Triple Combo #2 and Intermediate Combo #1 for 31 minutes

How can you make seven an even number? Just take away the "s"!

Song of the Day: Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms 

For tonight's stream, the plan is to start the story mode of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. Here's hoping Xfinity gets things sorted so we can have a full stream.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden! (Hopefully)

Today's my 40th Birthday

Good morning everyone and Happy Birthday to me...

This afternoon my mom begins radiation therapy in her fight against lung caner. I want to begin the day by saying thank you to everyone who has been so supportive. It really has kept my head straight, and I've passed along anything said in the chats regarding my mom to her. If anyone would like to donate to her GoFundMe, visit: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Last night's stream featured Final Fantasy XIV, as I continuing my quest of doing all the side quests, finding some things that link sub-stories together, such as the troll who eventually learns how to speak and the moogles from the Twelvewoods meeting their sky island living cousins. It was a pretty chill and relaxing stream on all fronts. We also did once Alliance Raid, and I remembered instantly how much I hate the ones associated with the NieR franchise.

Stream Clip Links

• Just your typical finish to a raid
• Aye... of course... 
• It meowed?!
  

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal who was also playing Final Fantasy XIV, with a big focus on doing the Rival Wings PVE content over at twitch.tv/kalenal!

The string of Mass Effect short story commissions continues as the client has moved the series into the Mass Effect 2 era of the story. Finished writing the fifth episode a bit before 4 AM

With Jalen Hurts out of for this week's game against the Cowboys, my two Fantasy Football teams are in danger of losing, well one for sure will certainly lose. The other has a slim chance at winning, but it's Kenneth Walker III is questionable.

I did remember to pop into Pokemon Violet to see the Birthday message at the Pokemon center it was cute for what it was. Also a new Pokemon Scarlet/Violet distribution is running through December 25th, enter HAPPYH0L1DAYS in game to get 50 Ice Tera Shards!. Big thanks to Kalenal for informing me about this. 

Big thank you to the FnDanteSavage for the Xbox gift card! Used that to pick up Anthem and The Council.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Biceps Shape Focus Combo, Difficulty Challenge Combo #3 and Difficulty Challenge Combo #1 for 34 minutes. Today is the 900th consecutive day I've worked out since I got the original Fitness Boxing in the middle of 2020. My weight is currently 245 lbs.

Recorded a Tier List video of ranking 80s Cartoons which will be viewable on my YouTube channel on Monday.

What do you call a belt made out of watches? A waist of time.

Song of the Day: Snow (Hey Oh) by Red Hot Chili Peppers

For my birthday stream I'll start as early as possible, but this does mean I'll be taking breaks to check on my mom once she returns from the hospital. But in terms of what we'll play, it's going to be a variety day of different stuff.

So on that note we'll see you later on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Just your typical Wednesday

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream started off with Fall Guys, and we were joined for several Duo shows by FelKimChi. We managed to get to round 3 or round 4 a few times, but we had some wonky luck. As a solo, I only made one appearance in the final round. Also had some really bad attempts in Stomping Grounds. I swear (a lot) that the hit boxes on the Rhinos in that mode change week to week!

After the mid-stream break, we switched over to Fallout 76, and was joined by Iceman in order to help him with some of quests in his trip through the Brotherhood of Steel story arc, with the missions 'Missing Persons' and 'Out of the Blue', the first of which he helped me with... and the later being one I did solo. Was super glad I was able to help him out because the Assaultron Sheep-squatch in 'Out of the Blue' was a real bullet sponge.

Stream Clip Links

• Kobe!
• Lost My Tail But Got It Back 
• Using The Ammo I Normally Don't Use
• Really? The Dog Gets Me? 
  

For last night's raid we dropped in on SweetLindir who was playing Rogue Company over at twitch.tv/SweetLindir!  

Update on my mom, she is scheduled to start radiation treatments on Friday... that's one hell of a birthday present for me. Big thank you to everyone who has been supportive and to those who have donated to her GoFundMe, considering her insurance, its helping covered a fair amount. For more information, please visit: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

I put together the 2022 Gaming Tour Video yesterday, highlight all 60 games we finished on stream. The video can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/0n_MHTIXQeg

Finished work on the fourth straight Mass Effect short story commission. Unlike the recent string of the WWE related ones, these have been fun to write back to back.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Difficulty Challenge Combo #2, Straight Combo #2 and Block Combo for 31 minutes. By my rough math, we should wrap up Martina's Champion EX achievement on either Sunday or Monday.

Why was the snowman looking through a bag of carrots? He was picking his nose. 

Song of the Day: ‘Never Forget You’ by Zara Larsson, MNEK

For tonight's stream we'll be playing Final Fantasy XIV as we'll continue on the Side Quests plus maybe do some daily Roulettes.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Abzu is the 60th we finished this year

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream opened with Abzu, a game that is more of an experience because of how gorgeous it is and how incredible the musical score is. I did try to find everything for a 'possible' 100% completion run, but some areas are just too difficult to see where some things are  Still, it does give me an excuse to play it again on stream to try and get the other achievements.

I hope to have the highlight reel featuring all 60 games we finished for this years tour ready by New Years Eve

We did play Smite, and there were two quests that tied into one another, play as a Warrior and play as a Chinese God... so with that I ended up playing as Mulan for the first time, picking up one of her two achievements and coming painfully close in picking up the other, which involved leveling up her weapons. She kind of feels like a less dive heavy version of Nike.

We loaded up Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 to try and get an S-Rank achievement... never got hire than an A-Rank. There has to be a trick to it.

Lastly we closed out with SoulCalibur II HD Online, and I totally forgot that earlier in the year I was messing around with it to try and get several achievements done. Was surprised to pick up one achievement for defeating 50 male warriors. Did do an arcade run as Heihachi, and I have to giggle at his ending basically coming across as it was all a dream.

ABZÛ Achievements

• Breach: Leap from the water.
• Jetstream: Burst 15 fish schools in the jetstream.
• Food Chain: Witness predation while meditating.
• Ballet: Perform a flip while riding a creature.
• Connection: Ride the Great White Shark.
• Leviathan: Breach the water on the back of a blue whale.
• Reflection: Complete the adventure.

SMITE Achievements

• Two For One: Unlock the SMITE Award "Two For One."

SoulCalibur II HD Online Achievements

• Exemplary Fortitude: Defeated 50 Male Characters

Stream Clips

• Achievement: Leviathan
• Achievement: Two For One 
• WakkaWakkaWakka 
• Is that all you got
  

By the way, here is the full list of every game we finished this year.

01/07 - Pokemon Shining Pearl
01/17 - Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise
01/20 - Life of Fly
01/24 - Battletoads
01/25 - Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
01/26 - Gears 5
01/29 - Disney-Pixar Brave
02/08 - Life is Strange: Remastered
02/13 - Life is Strange - Before the Storm: Remastered
02/15 - Kingdom Hearts III
02/19 - Life of Fly 2
02/22 - Tell Me Why
02/26 - Mortal Kombat IX
02/28 - Light Fairytale Episode 1
03/01 - Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold
03/01 - Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper
03/01 - Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix
03/07 - What Remains Of Edith Finch
03/09 - WWF SmackDown 2: Know Your Role
03/12 - Teen Titans
03/14 - Sonic Generations
03/15 - P.O.W. Prisoners of War
03/15 - Beast Busters
03/16 - Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
03/21 - Contrast
03/23 - Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
04/02 - Apocalypse
04/19 - Mass Effect 2
04/23 - Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
05/17 - Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition
05/22 - Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes EX Edition
05/30 - Lego Batman: The Video Game
06/02 - Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360 Version)
06/11- Capcom Fighting Evolution
06/18 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
06/21 - Persona 5 Royal
07/11 - Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins
07/18 - Persona 4: Arena
07/23 - Tekken Tag Tournament 2
07/25 - Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
07/30 - Persona 5: Strikers
08/06 - Stray
08/12 - My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure
08/22 - Mass Effect 3
09/02 - Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r]
09/05 - LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
09/12 - Murdered: Soul Suspect
09/16 - The Quarry
09/20 - Tekken 7
10/03 - Overwatch
10/10 - The Last of Us Remastered
10/14 - Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight
10/28 - Until Dawn
11/18 - Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
11/21- Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova
11/22 - Dragon Ball FighterZ
11/23 - Fallout 76
12/09 - Persona 4: Dancing All Night
12/13 - Games of Thrones: A Telltale Series
12/20 - Abzu

For the raid we dropped in on FelKimchi as they were playing Genshin Impact over on twitch.tv/felkimchi! 

Found out that mom will probably start getting radiation treatments on my birthday, and the major areas of concern are in her hip and right shoulder. If anyone wants to help with my mom's medical expenses, you can donate to her gofundme at https://gofund.me/6adf8354

The streak of Mass Effect shorty commissions request is now up to four, and I should have guessed that there was a possibility of including Matriarch Benezia. Will have to ponder how to make that work.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Sway Back Combo, Hip Shape Focus Combo and Intermediate Combo #2

What's the best way to carve wood? Whittle by whittle.

Song of the Day: Rocket Man (I think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time) by Elton John

For tonight's stream, the plan is to play Fall Guys and Fallout 76, so silliness and action is expected. 

So on at note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

What did we accomplish in Pokemon Violet?

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Pokemon Violet started off with us taking on the Electric Gym Leader, in one of the most surreal ways of me doing dialog ever... it's not easy trying to impersonate an high energy broadcaster. We then set out sights on tracking down the Steel Tighten and then wrapped things up going after the Water Gym Leader. So at this point I have four Gym badges, three Titan badges and two Team Star Badges.

So planning ahead, my next objective will to go after the Poison Crew of Team Star, followed by the Normal Gym Leader. Granted I could go after the Earth Titan since I'm still in that region, but I rather bounce around the recommended order of doing things just to try and have some sort of advantage.

That said, the Gym Tests in this generations Pokemon games are a bit interesting... as they basically are tasks being pushed off onto the player. Don't get me wrong they bet having to figure out the puzzles of Pokemon Shining Pearl, but I guess the emphasis on the open world aspect meant no actual in-door gyms were made.

Also thank goodness at this point all the answers for the 'tests' at the Academy can be easily found, no way I would be able to remember some things.

Last Night's Clips

• Magical Leaf For The Win
• Just Bite It Again 
• The Flower Trick For The Win
  

For last night's raid we dropped in on Kalenal as they were playing Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal!  

Mom has another set of appointments today, I believe we'll find out for sure how severe his battle with cancer is because there was a lot of confusion that popped up over the past week. If anyone wants to help with my mom's medical expenses, you can donate to her gofundme at https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Moved a dresser that was being unused in on the 2nd floor of my home down to my studio / office in the basement. It was fairly easy... since I took the drawers out first and basically slide it slower down one flight of stairs, then through the living room and kitchen... then down another flight of stairs.

Also changed some things around, so the stream tonight will look different, contemplating just showing off how large the basement is. 

Got a third Mass Effect short story commission request, and managed to get a good portion of it written. Of course the challenge here is using Tali in a featured role forces me to think of alternatives.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Uppercut Combo #1, Beginner COmbo #2 and Advanced Combo #1 for 34 minutes.

Why do ghosts love elevators? Because it lifts their spirits.

Song of the Day: Faded by Alan Walker

For tonight's stream, the plan is to to play and finish Abzu in one stream to give us 60 games finished for 2022 in order to wrap up this years tour.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Am I becoming a Junker Queen / Junkrat Main?

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Overwatch was pretty damn good, in terms of getting challenges done to level up the battle pass and in terms of just having fun. Big thanks to BangBangBang, BloodyClown and PandaSweet for joining on many of the matches over the course of the night.

In terms of who I used, where D.va, Orissa, Wrekcing Ball, Moira & Lucio were among the usual suspects but the MVPs of the night were Junker Queen and Junkrat. Between the two of them I picked up 7 Plays of the Game! I think maybe I had 8 but my Antivirus Software caused a slight freeze which prevented me from making note of it. Still 7 in one night is awesome.

But the big question is aim I becoming a Junker Queen and Junkrat main when it comes to the Tank and Damage roles while playing Overwatch 2? I don't think so, because when I'm playing the role as a tank I look at her as being a situational option one some maps. She certainly is a brawler in many aspects and if I can trust my team, I can cause a lot of havoc. With Junkrat, well it's really hit or miss because I can have very good games using him and very bad ones. as well.

Twitch Clips

• Panda!
• One by one by one! 
• Triple Kill with One Knief Throw
  

For the raid we dropped in on annietalksshow as they were playing Valorant over at twitch.tv/annietalksshow! 

My mom has the first of several appointments this week today, with today being for what is called a PET scan. I do like to continue thanking you for your support during this tough period. For anyone wanting to donate, you can do so over at https://gofund.me/6adf8354

I've said it once and I'll keep saying it... Elon Musk is a piece of shit and he can kiss my ass.

Finished writing the second Mass Effect short story commission I received, will be interesting to see if the client wants to go for a third entry straight away.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Weaving COmbo #2, Hook Combo #1 and Waist Shape Focus Combo for 28 minutes.

What sound does a nut make when it sneezes? Cashew!

Song of the Day: Viva La Vida by Coldplay

For tonight's stream we're playing Pokemon Violet, with our first objective being on the 3rd Gym... I'll probably focus on leveling to make sure we have an easy time with it.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

A Random Saturday

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream started with DKO Divine Knockout and I'm determined to get Athena to 'level 20' mostly because one of the things that is popular to do over in its sister game Smite, is to put in the play time with each character to rank X even if you're not good as them. I'm fairly good with Athena in certain match ups, so this gives me a long term goal with the game. Big thanks to Reaper for joining in on a few matches as well.

Next we played MultiVersus, and I do like the look of the Game of Thrones inspired arena, just wish I wasn't playing Velma at the time so I could have a better idea of how to recover when knocked off the sides. Also MultiVersus had some weird rendering issues with textures on the characters. Did nab the ugly sweater skin for Arya Stark, because that helped with some challenges.

Lastly we closed out the night with Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, and we had a good stint on it, winning 4 out of 6 matches played. I have to remember next time to hunt for Rifts to fulfill one of the side hustles.

So all in all a good night!

Divine Knockout Achievements

• Air-Time: Achieved 'Air-Time'
• Damage Dealer Gold: Achieved 'Damage Dealer Gold'
• Double KOs Silver: Achieved 'Double KOs Silver'

Twitch Clips

• Get Off My Point!
• Back to Back! 
• Trapped at the same instant the rift was destroyed!
  

For the raid we dropped in on Tracy Doll who was playing The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me over at twitch.tv/tracydoll.

We have nearly raised $1000 for my mom to help cover her medical expenses, ya'll are awesome for helping her out! For information on what's going on in her fight against cancer visit: https://gofund.me/6adf8354.

Finished the first in a new series of short story commission based on Mass Effect, and the client wants a second right straight away. Now to figure out how to write the second episode.

Start of a new week, let's recap what we played over the last seven days: Overwatch 2, Pokemon Violet, Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series, Smite, Fall Guys, Fallout 76, Final Fantasy XIV, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, DKO Divine Knockout, MultiVersus & Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Straight Combo #1, Triple Combo #1 and Double Combo #2 for 31 minutes.

There are three types of people in the world. Those of us who are good at math and those of us who aren't.

Song of the Day: Believer by Imagine Dragons

For tonight's stream Overwatch is on deck, as we'll work on knocking out things required for the weekly challenges and so forth. 

SO we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Is A Bit Different Than The Original

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax saw us getting use the mechanics that were introduced in the original Persona 4 Arena which we played earlier this year... however there are a number of differences. I feel Aigis plays a lot different, some of the combo challenges feel awkward in execution, but overall it didn't take me too long to get back into the flow of things. That said, I did notice that characters who had sprites in the original Persona 4 Arena don't look as good when compared to the characters added to Ultimax, and that extends over to how some of the Instant Kills look as well.

In terms of other things done, we did one arcade run, attempted a Score Attach run... and dived in deep into the Golden Arena mode as Naoto, getting down to level 45... once I figured out the RPG element of it. It was great to hear some music I've heard a lot in the Dancing game trilogy over the past several week.

There is going to be a question of how I'm going to handed Person 4 Arena Ultimax next week with my Birthday on the 23rd. I'm certainly leaning towards doing a variety stream next Friday and putting P4AU on Saturday. We'll see what I end up doing.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Trophies

• Baby Steps: You started on the road to knowledge.
• Cram Session: You studied 20 different Lessons.
• 30-Minute Workout: You Trained for 30 minutes straight!  
• Combination Fighter: You completed 150 challenges!
• The Punk's Way: You defeated an opponent without letting them Awaken in Arcade or Network Mode.
• Advanced Fishing Manual: You performed 10 Fatal Counters in Arcade or Network Mode.
• Awakened SP Skill Boosts Made Easy: You used an Awakened SP Skill Boost in Arcade or Network Mode.
• Arcade Novice: You completed Arcade Mode with one character.
• Not Unlike a Boss: You defeated a boss character in Golden Arena Mode!
• Brave Gladiator: You raised a character to level 10 in Golden Arena Mode!

Steam Clips

• Achievement: The Punk's Way
• Galactic Punt! 
• I actually... lost...
  

For the raid we dropped in on x_lumineee  when they were playing Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Reunion over at twitch.tv/x_lumineee!   

Mom was visited by several family members yesterday which was pretty cool, and I got in touch with a cousin I haven't spoken too in a long time. Also, huge thank you to everyone who donated to my mom's GoFundMe yesterday, your kindness and generosity is incredible! For more info on what is going on visit: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Played a little Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 yesterday and nabbed an achievement in it... granted I was playing it because Windows and Logitech had updates that broke the audio set up I have for OBS

Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Achievements

• ADVENTURE 2: Clear area 3-11 in ADVENTURE!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Body Hook Combo, Beginner Combo #1 and WEaving COmbo #1 for 28 minutes.

What do you call the security guards outside of Samsung? The guardians of the Galaxy.

Song of the Day: Intentions by Justin Bieber ft Quavo

For tonight's stream, well it's a variety night, so DKO: Divine Knockout, Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed and MultiVersus are things I have planned

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Just your casual night of FFXIV

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Final Fantasy XIV was indeed focused on side quests in area's associated with Shadowbringers, with the highlight being that Puddingway finally got to have good pudding. Those who played through the MSQ would know Puddingway from when you go to the moon. That said some of the side-quests certainly involved some heavy footwork in terms of where some locations were to get or do stuff.

We also did some raids and three successful trips into the Variant Dungeons. If I get all the 'notes' or not, it's all gravy for me because I'm not someone looking to get all the in-game mounts. Actually I did have a great performance in one raid come to thing of it, the Eden version of Titan, I managed not to get killed once. So there's that.

Twitch Clips

• That nearly worked
• A nice run on the Hades Trial 
• We make it rain... a deadly rain
  

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal over at twitch.tv/kalenal as they were playing Final Fantasy XIV!  

Got two commission stories done yesterday, thanks in part to my job being in its slow period. Both stories were WWE related. To break the string of WWE story, I got a commission request for a Mass Effect one... granted it involves using the male version of Commander Shepard

We had some more donations to help my mom cover some of the expenses related to her medical issues, and I deeply appreciate it. Ya'll are awesome! To learn more about what's going on vist: https://gofund.me/6adf8354

Ended up watching Con Air after last night's stream while playing some Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight... where I managed to score four more King Crazy ranks on tracks set to normal difficulty.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Left-Right Step Combo, Hook Combo #2 and Advanced Combo #2 for 31 minutes.

Who invented the round table? Sir Cumference.

Song of the Day: Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival

For tonight's stream we are starting up Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and we'll be playing the PS4 version of it. Now I haven't looked at the trophy list, but I'll assume there will be achievements associated with the tutorial and challenges, so we should get a fair idea of what everyone plays like.

So on that note we'll see ya'll later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Fall Guys, Fallout and Getting Follow Bot Bombed

 Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream opened with Fall Guys, and surprisingly I ended up in the Final Round 4 times, twice as a solo and twice in Squad mode, which was amazing... and I came within whiskers of actually pulling off some wins. But it was a lot of fun regardless. We were also joined by PandaSweet for a few rounds as well.

After the break, we switched over to Fallout 76, and we helped Iceman with a few of his Brotherhood of Steel quests that were combat heavy, and we were joined by PowerThumbZ as well in an attempt to get one of the nukes launched to go for it's related achievement. Unfortunately, someone else beat us to it and we got kicked when maybe 75% of the way through. We'll give it a shot in a private session down the road. 

Now unfortunately, we ended up getting Followed Botted towards the end of the stream, 2,500 new followers. It didn't take me long to realize what was happening and I have to laugh. I did clip the incident and reported it to Twitch.

Fallout 76 Achievements

• Code Cruncher: Hack 50 Terminals

Twitch Clips

• I was in the final 3...
• Stay In The Light! 
• Give me my penguin back!
• Things happening 
• Shin go in front!
• Back here again 
• Being Followed Botted
  

For the raid we dropped in on x9abenonymous9x as they were were playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II over at twitch.tv/x9abenonymous9x!

Mom had an okay day yesterday, near as I can tell, but we do have major concerns. Full details on what's going on can be found on her GoFundMe page at: https://gofund.me/6adf8354. All donations go directly to her medical expenses.

It's that time of year where work slows down because of the Holiday season, but I did plan for it this go round, wish some of my usual expenses already paid in advance.

Today's Ftiness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Body Uppercut Combo, Double Combo #1 and Body Straight Combo for 28 minutes.

What do sprinters eat before a race? Nothing, they fast.

Song of the Day: Arcade by Duncan Laurence

For tonight's stream, we're playing Final Fantasy XIV, with a focus on Side Quests in areas associated with Shadowbringers. These will be more difficult as I won't be able to one or two shot every enemy I come across. 

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!